There is no shortage of core-making and mold manufacturing methods available to the foundryman for his uses. Hot-box processes are advantageous in some respects in that they provide high production, high strength, and dimensional accuracy. However, hot-box procedures have high tooling costs as well as relatively poor surface finishes.
The cold box process, one of the alternatives to the hot-box or shell processes, is useful because it provides good surfaces, a high degree of collapsibility, and rapid cures possessing good tensile strength and good abrasion resistance. In both types of processes (hot box or cold box) a major amount of sand and a minor amount of binder are employed.